3 Grove School Alums Establish IEEE Student Chapter in Haiti

2013 Grads Michele Boisrond, Paul Merisier, Richard D. Sam, Professor Roger Dorsinville to speak at Chapter’s inaugural conference, April 14 – 16

The catastrophic 2010 earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 300,000 Haitians and displaced 1.3 million more impacted persons of Haitian descent throughout the diaspora, and The City College of New York was no exception. Michele Boisrond, Paul Merisier and Richard D. Sam, 2013 graduates of City College's Grove School of Engineering, are applying their knowledge to help students in their homeland prepare for and respond to future disasters.

Last fall, they established Haiti's first IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) student chapter at the Faculte des Sciences in Port-au-Prince. The trio will return to the Caribbean Island April 14 – 16 for the chapter's inaugural conference. 

At the conference, they will present individual lectures and make a joint presentation titled "Seismic Waves Detection System." It is based on their current research at CCNY, where Mr. Merisier is now a graduate engineering student and Ms. Boisrond and Mr. Sam are research interns.  

The conference theme is "Advancing the STEM Field & Advocating for Research in Haiti." "We felt that Haiti should develop the capability to respond to such disasters and by encouraging Haitian students to pursue STEM careers, that's one way of developing that capability," said Mr. Merisier. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

Accompanying the trio to Haiti, and also scheduled to speak at the conference, are Dr. Roger Dorsinville, chair of electrical engineering in the Grove School, and Paul Celicourt, a PhD candidate in the civil engineering department and alumnus of Faculte des Sciences. 

Professor Dorsinville will deliver two lectures: "IEEE Journey," Monday, April 14, and "Presentation on Photonics," Tuesday, April 15.  

"This is a great initiative from these three CCNY students," he said. "This will help connect engineering students in Haiti with their colleagues in the United States and around the world and help open for them new channels to get technical and scientific information."

About The City College of New York 
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided low-cost, high-quality education for New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in: the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Grove School of Engineering; the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. U.S. News, Princeton Review and Forbes all rank City College among the best colleges and universities in the United States.

About the IEEE 
With more than 430,000 members in more than 160 countries, the IEEE is the world's largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global community through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities.
 
 

MEDIA CONTACT

Jay Mwamba
p: 212.650.7580
e: jmwamba@ccny.cuny.edu